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May 19, 2010

Thinking like a retailer - redux

Location is important to retailers. If you have something to sell, the more people who walk by and see your product, the more likely you are to sell it -- and the more of it you are likely to sell. This common knowledge is why most retailers pay top dollar for high-traffic retail locations.

Pets are "products", per se. They're living, breathing, loving animals. But the principles remain the same - the more people who see your adoptable pets, the more likely they are to fall in love and adopt them. So many times I've heard shelter people say, "if only I could get people here to meet this dog, they'd fall in love and take her home." It's true.

Most shelters don't have the financial luxury to pay for high-dollar retail locations. Most, are sadly stuck in old warehouse buildings or in far, out-of-the way locations. But many are starting to think like retail in order to get their adoptable pets in front of high-volumes of potential adopters -- and are seeing success with it.

Since the partnership began on May 1, adoptions have skyrocketed -- with more than 100 cats and dogs placed with families in just 12 days. Sources say that that type of volume would take a month at the shelter facility.

And because of this success, Fort Worth Animal Care and Control hasn't killed a healthy adoptable animal in two weeks -- the first time in more than a decade that that has happened. In fact, the new adoption center became so busy, that FWACC had to reach out to other shelters in the area in order to keep up.

Simply amazing.

While many animal welfare organizations complain about 'pet overpopulation' being why they 'have to' kill adoptable animals, programs like this one show the power of thinking like more like a retailer -- getting your adoptable animals in high-traffic locations - can supercharge adoptions, and increase the number of lives we save. We CAN adopt our way to killing fewer pets.

Off-site adoptions in high-traffic areas is important. And many shelters are finding success by finding semi-permanent (or permanent) locations in high-traffic areas. The economy is slowly on the uptick, but the past 2 years have been really hard on retail areas -- and many now have empty store-fronts thay might be available to non-profits at a very reduced rate. Think like a retailer -- get your adoptable pets more exposure, and get them into loving homes. Their lives may depend o it, and we cannot make excuses for not doing it any longer.

Comments

Another "spot on" blog Brent! Because of my history in retail, I have always felt that many rescues and shelters are not "customer" friendly when it comes to the process of adoptions.

While I understand waiting periods, home inspections and all that, I sometimes think we make it TOO hard for people to adopt pets. And those people that find it cumbersome to adopt from a shelter are the same people who will end up frequenting a backyard breeder or pet store.

Consider customer friendly hours as well...how many pets are you really going to adopt between 11 and 5 Monday through Friday??

My final comment will be to mention that the staff and volunteers of shelters and rescues should consider themselves not only to be advocates for the pet, but also salespeople to a small extent. Their goal should be to get the pet into a good home and rude, demeaning, or "highbrow" talk will not accomplish that task.

Right, Michelle, there are empty buildings in the crossroads (First Fridays), P&L, Westport and even the Plaza. There could be a LOT of opportunities.

PetDocs, exactly. It has become too easy to blame breeders and pet stores for the problem, yet not realize that any 'business' with less friendly staff, hours and location is going to lose out on market share. Having all of your pets in an out-of-the-way location M-F 11-5 is not going to get them in front of people - -not when they can stop by a breeder or pet store after work or on weekends. And yes, the message for the people at the shelter needs to be positive instead of rude, "highbrow" or "adopt or we will kill him" type of talk.

Exactly! This is what I've been saying about Houston's animal control facility. It is built in a remote location that few people know exists. The city of Houston is now planning on spending 10-12 million dollars to build another adoption facility...at another remote location very much like their current location. (http://bit.ly/9MoCAR)

I don't understand why don't people get this very basic marketing idea.

Thanks for writing this! Animal shelters have one of the most appealing 'products' a person can ever hope to bring home, with much more intrinsic value than virtually anything else a person would spend money on. When's the last time you got a warm, fuzzy feeling from your car?

Non-profits are generally operating under more businesslike models today, focusing more on marketing and attracting people who support their mission in new ways, which often helps them gain more resources to support themselves. Non-profit animal shelters are especially fortunate, as they and the recipients of their services can benefit tremendously from thinking more like retailers (whereas non-profits focused on, say, health matters would have more difficulty in the retail arena.)

Brent, just saw a link to this on someone's FB page. Thought I'd add a comment to reinforce what you wrote.

Tristan's comment above is at the heart of the innovative concept I am trying to introduce to replace sheltering as we know it. It's all about our "appealing product."

Every shelter in this country, large, small, high-kill or no-kill, are all based on the same failed prison model. Cages? Really? That's marketing?

The most progressive shelters have only taken a baby step away from this antiquated prison model and have gone to semi-private rooms for dogs. Shelter directors across the country cannot think "outside the box" because the box is all they know. Not even Nathan Winograd, Susanne Kogut, Abigail Smith nor Bonney Brown are able to see beyond caging. They're blinded by this ugly old model to which they cling.

We need a pioneer to lead us out of this swamp called the shelter industry - someone who gets it that our product sells itself if given a chance.

Tristan will get this: my innovative concept calls for displaying (not "housing") dogs and cats in showrooms (not kennels or cells). No cages, no wardens.

These are social animals. Why do shelters lock them up like prisoners in solitary confinement?

This will be frustrating to see because it's so easy to grasp yet doesn't exist anywhere, yet. Check out my introductory video at http://youtu.be/OPajZB9cPWQ.

Thomas, there are actually quite a few shelters that do what you propose -- at least when it comes to cats. I think doing so with dogs comes with a different set up problems that, while not unworkable, make it more challenging to do for the safety of the dogs.